Can't remember who said that, but it is true!!!
We've had a wonderful family that has supported and given and loved us through our adoption journey. They have two beautiful and smart children, one is from China, like our girls! The other likes horses, like me (both kids like them, actually)!
They recently met for the first time. The girls are not very far apart agewise, five months at the most. They didn't know it yet, but they are destined to be best friends! And the K family's oldest is going to have to be C and FL's honorary big brother when they start dating so he can watch out for them! : )
It took the girls a while to warm up to each other, but once they did it was great!
Little M has been "thanking God" for FL and C every night for a very long time. We know God has heard her little prayers (and the prayers of SO MANY) as our daughters are here, relatively healthy and have been loved.
They are all silly, sweet and smart! (here they are, shaking their heads and silly screaming together!)
It is so important to us for our daughters to have friends and families similar to them and to us. These girls will understand each other in a way that Sam and I can't, as much as we want to. I'm glad that they have each other for so many reasons!
C and FL did really well on their first ever playdate. We had some hard times later in the afternoon, which reminded me of what I too quickly forget: the girls have been through a lot and so many of these things are brand new experiences that may be hard to process and understand. Some of it may make them nervous, make them wonder if they are going to be given to another family again and some of it may just be overstimulating. It may even remind them of memories of their life and "families" in China. They can't really tell me what they are feeling and I can't really communicate with them fully to help them process it. It's hard. I want to jump back into "normal" life and do all of the things that other families do with their children. Now is time to wait, though. My girls are attaching, but it is a weak attachment and needs time to grow stronger so when the hard (and really, really hard) things do come, they can trust us to be there and be their comfort. We are so thankful for those who have been patient with us as we "cocoon" at home. We are really, really missing you, church, friends and family. However, NOW is the time and season for us to be there for our children. We've missed nearly three years of their lives. That's three years that we HAVEN'T been their for them. In my limited perspective, I feel that it will take at least that long before you can even expect them to behave like a child with a "normal" beginning. We've got three years to "undo" and "redo", but I am thankful for the love that both of my girls did recieve. It has made a BIG difference in so many ways. I'm also thankful for our friends like the K family, who have been there done that and understood that when they came over I hadn't showered in days, washed my hair in forever, vacuumed my house since I left for China and my poor husband hadn't yet brushed his teeth that day. (But, hey, my girls were cute, clean and in matching outfits!).
So, I went off on a little rabbit trail I didn't expect to go! Sorry about that! : ) Maybe it helps you understand us a little more, though.
I'll leave you with another cute picture to smooth things over : )
Happy days, good friends! (don't you think all three of them need matching outfits?!)
